Loading machine



Mar'h 22, 1932. L. F; SNYDER LOADING MAUI-[IN Filed March 18 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet vwemtoz March 22,1932. F. SNYDER LOADING MACHINE Filed March 18, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar,- 22, 1932' UNIT snags Mam E5 I LOUIS nsnYnER, F PHILADELPHIA, rnnnsvnvrxinanssrenon T0 LiNKeBELT oom- PANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, COBIPORATION OF ILLINQIS LOADING MACHINE Application'filejd MarchlB, 1330. sena1-1v 5. 43c,ese.

The invention relates toloading'machines,--

and particularly to'machines of the typedisclosed ;in filly copending application .Serial No. 359,512 filed May 1,1929, now Patent I :No. 1,754,699 by'whichgbulk material such as coal, sand, gravel, dirt,and the like, is ,ele; .vated from the ground, or other places of -.depo'sit, and delivered to wagons, carts, or other carriers and places. i

Moreparticularly the'present invention relatesto devices for feeding-the material to be handled to the elevator, or carrier of load-' ing machines ofthe nature referred to, by which said material is elevated and delivered.

The object of thelinvention is' to provide a loading apparatus, andmore particularly feeding devices therefor, which are simple in structure,economical to manufacture, and efficient in operation. a

v A. further ObjGClllS to provide feeding'dea vices for loading machlnes which secure'a continuous smooth progression or feed of V -machines it is commonto employ feeding de- V1088 at the lower front end of the elevating power for actuating the same.

A further object is to provide ina loadingv machine of the type in" which the machine is continuously advanced towards or into apile of material to be loaded or transferred, feeding devices which-operate to loosen up; the material to be handled, and to effect the con- .tinuous,uniform, smooth progression of the j of th ssame general type and res des more loosened up vmaterial from-opposite sides of the elevator into-the line of advancement of the ,accompanying drawings, and f finally pointed out in the appended claims. I 4 Referring to the. accompanying vdrawings and (to v the g various lviewsappearing therej V V theelevat0r,:and which is characterized by vices-forloosening up and feeding thematev desi"red,- the foot shaft being-extended be fully hereinafter set forth, as illustrated in I to the further obj'ection of encountering an Figure 1 is aside elevationof a'loading machine equipped witha feeding device embodying the principles ofmy invention;

Fig.- 2'is a frontelevationof the feedingde I vice of, thebmachine shownin F ig., v1;

r Fig. 3 is a view'in :perspectiveof apor-r tionof the feedingdevice; and l a f 7 Fig.1 4 is a sectional view of ,azblade ofthe feeding devicealong the line A-A ,ofE'Fi'g. 3.

Thesame-part is designated by the same reference 1 character wherever} it occurs throughout the several views. Y

In the handling of various kindofamate rial, such as coal, sand, gravel, dirt and-the like, it is a, common practice to, employ a delivering conveyor mounted ininclined position upon a suitable framework which is capable of: beingrocked or tilted vertically to various angles of inclination, and also to be swung into various. horizontal positions, and to beadvanced towards and fromythe materi-al to be handled; In connection-with such conveyor, and disposed at opposite sides 7 thereofto loosen up and feed the material to be handled into the path of advancing movement ofthe conveyor, so as to be scoopedlup by the conveyor and elevated and loaded into wagons, carts, or the like, or-deposited in some other carrier or place. i

The presentinvention relates toa'pparatus particularly in the structure of .feedingwderial from opposite sides of the conveyor into the path of advancement of the conveyor.

Heretofore it has been a common practice to employfee'ders consisting ofuspirals' carried by afoot shaft of the elevating struc- 9D ture, either the lower shaft over which operates the elevating conveyor, oran auxiliary shaft dr1ventherefrom,-0r otherw1se,as

open to the objection of feeding, excessive volumes of the material from opposite sides of, the elevator towards the latter, and also and its supporting shaft which will permit increased resistance due to the large area of contact of the surface of the spiral with the material to be fed, thereby requiring the expenditure of excessive power to effect rotation of the shaft carrying the spiral feeder. It has also been proposed to employ a series of paddles mounted upon the extended ends of the foot shaft in a spiral line therearound, and having their faces disposed in angular relation thereby forming, in effect, an interrupted spiral type of feeder. Devices of this nature, however, are open to the rather serious objection that the paddles exert successive blows or impacts on the material to be handled, and this not only subjects the strucmm to an objectionable vibration and jerky action but, also, it results in increased resistance to the rotative action of the feeder,

and inthe requirement for increased power to'etfect such rotation, with resultant increase in the strains imposed on the structure. It is among the special purposes of my pi'esent invention to provide feeding devices r use in connection with loading machines of the nature and type referred to whichobviate the foregoing and other serious objections and defects in machines of this character.

In carrying out my invention I propose to eliminate entirelythe feature of spirally arranged paddles or blades and to employ a continuous form of spiral feeder which is so mounted, constructed and arranged as to accomplish the function of loosening up the material to be fed thereby, and of feeding the loosened material smoothly towards I the elevating conveyor, without shock or ar incident to successive impacts or blows, without causing an excessive feed of material, and without requiring excessive power to rotatively actuate the feeders. I also propose, in one form of embodiment of my invention, to employ feeding devices made in separable sections whereby when one section is'injured or broken it may be removed and replaced'by a new section'without necessitating the removal and replacement of the entire feeder. I also propose to employ a feeder of the ribbon type of spiral, that is, a

spiral the inner continuous edge of the feedmg surface of which is offset radially away from the axis of the shaft upon which it is supported, thereby leaving an open space between the inner radial edge of the spiral a portion of the material to be handled to splll through such space without being engaged and fed toward the elevating conveyor. This avoids an excessive volume of feed of the material and, also, it results in reducing the resistance to the operation of the feeder, and in avoiding the shocks, strains and stresses incident to successive blows or impacts. I also propose to provide the continuous spiral material-feeding surface of the feeder at its outer peripheral edges with a laterally turned edge flange, which serve the purpose of digging into the material to be handled, and of loosening up the same, so that the continuous surface of the web portion of the spiral may exert an efficient, smooth and constant feeding action upon the material to propel the same continuously towards the path of travel of the elevating conveyor.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown a main framework A carrying the usual power equipment, and upon which is supported an auxilia frame B constituting the elevator frame. f his elevator frame, in the particular formshown, to which, however, my invention is not to be limited or restricted, is supported upon the main frame A for vertical tilting movement. The main frame is provided with suitable feeding mechanism by which the entire'frame may be advanced towards or. retracted from the material to be handled. In the particular embodiment shown as illustrativeof my invention the main framework is of the crawler type, employingthe usual traveling treads C. My invention is not, however, to be limited or restricted in this respect.

The elevator includes endless carriers D, shown in the present instance as having buckets E. The elevator operates over an upper shaft F and a loweror foot shaft G. As the endless carriers D are driven the buckets E carried thereby scoop into the material to be handled which lies in front of them, as they pass around the foot shaft G, thereby picking up and elevating such materialto the upper end and over the u per shaft F of the elevating structure, at w 1ch point the material is dumped by the buckets into a delivery chute H and thence into a conveniently located wagon, cart, or other carrier.

The features so far described are well known in the art, and in and of themselves form no part of my resent invention, except as the same may orm elements of combinations with the features of structure hereinafter to be described. And while I have shown a structure of loading machine of a well known general type, it will be understood, of course, that the feeder devices of my invention are not limited in res ect to the use thereof in connection with t e particular type of loading machine I have selected for illustrative purposes, as said feeders are equally well applicable to machines of various other general types.

The foot shaft G, as clearly shown in Fig.

2, has its ends extended transversely and beyond the sides of the elevator. Upon the extended ends of this shaft are mounted the feeder devices to which my invention is more particularly directed. In the form shown each of these feeder devices com rises a propeller 10 consisting of a'web port on ll 1 having a general spiral shape and equipped Withradial spokes 12 by means of which the webmay be clamped to the shaft G through the agency of clamping -members 13 in a position concentric with the shaft. The outer edge 14 of the web 11 is offset inwardly a I few'degrees as bestshown in F igs. 2 and 4 and the bottom edge 15thereof is so shaped that when the machineis assembled itwill be parallel to the ground, that is to say, horizontal. It will also be noted that the propeller is spaced apart from shaft G by means course, "being-reversed in direction and so of spokes -12 .so-that open spaces are left. be

tween the shaft and theinner edge of the propeller; I f. 7

In operation whenshaft G is rotated the offset edge ofthe propeller engages first with the-material tobe handled to lift it slightly and loosen it after which the materialis propelled steadily and smoothly by thesubstam tiallyvertical w'ebjll toward the line of travel of the elevating conveyon; The outer edge 15 of the propeller is made horiz'ontalaas .described in order that it may beself-sharpening;

throughits contact with the material :or the; ground. The provision .of the open space betweenthe inner edge of the web 11' of the propeller andthe shaft G permits the material if supplied thereto in excessive quan: tities to spill over the inner edge of the web 11 without being propelled towards theelevator.

This preventsatoo rapid feed of material towards the elevator, avoids choking or re tardingthe continuous operation of the 'apparatus' and insures a uniform supply of material tothe elevator.

a It will be observed that no tossing or throw-v ing actionmore than that of'the'ordinary spiral conveyor is exerted uponthe material tending to throw the same forwardly and towards the line of travel of the elevator. on the contrary,'the feeding action exerted on the material is accomplished solely by the continuous radial spiral web surfaces of the feeder sections and: is I smooth and continuous. I j

The machine as viewed from the forward end is symmetrical, one or morepropellers being similarly positioned upon shaft 12 on either side of the conveyor, the spirals, of

related to the direction of rotation as to propel the material toward the conveyor. This arrangement clearly appears in Fig. 2.

It willbe understood, of course, that the radial web portions of the feeder sections may have any desired degree of spiral, that is, the pitch of the spiral thereof may be of i any desired degree. 1

V V The pitch of the spiral ordinarily depends on the nature of the ma terialto be handled.

. It is to be understood that my invention is] not limited with respect to the use of the feeders on any particular shaft the lower end of the elevator.'-

Having now setforthf the objects and nature of my invention, and various structures embodying the principles thereof, what I 1 claim as new'and useful" and of my own invention and desire to secure byLetters Pat-' ent is: Y

1. Afeeding device for loading machines,

including a rotatably mounted spirally dis- 1 posed radial feeding propeller having, a web and a peripheral flange, the feeding surface of said flange being at an obtuse angle to the surface of the web and the peripheral edge of which intersects in a horizontal line any plane passing through the axis of rotation of r the propeller.

2.- A feeding device for loading machines, including a rotatably mounted spirally disposed radial feedingpropeller having. a web and aperipheral flange,-the feeding surface of said flange being at an'obtuse angle to the surface of the web, and having a smooth peripheral edge so formed as to intersect in a horizontal line any plane passing through the axis of rotation of the propeller.

3. A feedingdevice for loading machines,

including arotatable shaft and a feeder sec-.

tion mounted so as to rotate with saidshaft, said section having aunitary radial spirally disposed propeller consisting of a web portion,'and a laterally bent peripheral flange the peripheral edge to intersect in .a horizontal line any plane propeller.

4:. A feeding device for loading machines,

including a rotatable, shaft and a feeder sec- .tion mounted so as to rotate with said shaft,

of which is so formed as passing through the axis of rotation of the said section having a unitary radial spirally disposed propeller with a peripheral flange bent laterally atan obtuse angle to the web I the peripheral edge surface of said flange being so formed as to intersect in a horizontal 'line any plane passing through the axis of rotation of the propeller.

. 5. In a feeding device for loading machines, a rotatable shaft in combination with LOUIS. SNYDER. 

